


Punch a Bar-bell

by Tsuki_Amano



Series: 365 Stucky Shots [42]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, M/M, Skinny Steve, gyms are scary, lumberjack bucky, pre-serum steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsuki_Amano/pseuds/Tsuki_Amano
Summary: The moment Clint says Steve might not be able to handle the gym, Tony wants to bang his head on the table. Because Steve's definitely going to go to the gym now, even if it kills him, just to prove Clint wrong. Steve hates the gym, but he kind of doesn't hate the cute guy that he keeps bumping into. He might just get into this whole gym thing.Even if the gym equipment is out to get him.





	

“Steve, are you sure you want to be lifting that? That barbell looks bigger than your entire head.”

“Fight me,” Steve rasps out in response.

At least, that’s what Tony thinks he says because Steve’s entire face is red and he’s trembling and now Tony’s worried that he’s going to either get an asthma attack or pass out from the stress and neither scenario sounds fun. He should have known that when Steve said he’d ‘Start off easy’ that meant he wouldn’t immediately try and bench press gym equipment or something.

“There are trainers,” Tony tried suggesting weakly.

“Don’t need ‘em,” Steve spits out.

And no, Tony thinks to himself, what Steve’s going to need is an ambulance at the rate he’s going.

It’s all Clint’s fault. They’d been having lunch on Saturday and he’d mentioned that he’d gotten himself a boyfriend, an older man called Phil or something, who he’d met at the gym. Natasha had remarked that maybe she and Steve, the only one’s still single in their friend group, should try looking there, when Clint had passed an off-hand remark that maybe Steve should avoid the gym, owing to his various health complications. To be entirely fair, he wasn’t wrong but the moment the words had slipped out from his mouth, Tony had wanted to cry.

Because everyone and their mothers knew how Steve Rogers was, if you told him he couldn’t do something, he’d make sure he did it, just to spite you.

Tony was still pulling out splinters after the last time Steve had decided he could definitely climb a tree (and boy what a great time it was for them to realise that Steve was afraid of heights).

He could swear he literally saw Steve bristle like an angry cat when Clint said that, and out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Natasha slap a hand to her forehead.

“You’re a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?” he groans, “Have you learnt nothing over these past few years? Steve no!”

“Steve yes.” And Steve has the most determined look on his face, with a scowl and stern set of his shoulders to match. It would be hilarious if they didn’t know what it meant. While Steve’s furiously shoving his mystery meat into his mouth, Tony and Natasha decide who’s going to go in with him tomorrow. Naturally as adults, they are perfectly capable of settling this in a completely responsible manner.

Tony bangs his forehead against the table and groans.

Next to him, Clint remarks, “Purposefully induced headaches and brain damage won’t get you out of this Stark. Besides, you always use paper. It’s like your call sign.”

He looks up long enough to glare at them, “Ok, first of all, on principle, fuck you because this is literally all your fault. Secondly, why aren’t you going in with Steve tomorrow if you’re so smart. And thirdly I don’t always use paper. That is a gross and unfair generalization and I protest.”

“Tony you literally always use the same thing. Every single time. Also, guys I don’t need a chaperone, come on I’m 25 years old.”

Everyone ignores Steve when he says this, because everyone is fully aware of that time he decided it would be interesting to take up rock climbing. Tony still gets a full-body shudder when he remembers that.

Which is how he ends up in a gym, full of sweaty people who are ridiculously in shape. It’s a Saturday, he thinks to himself, he should be eating pizza and watching terrible movies and in general making bad life decisions. Not crowding into a room that smells of competition and testosterone. He’s been pushed to the side about six times already by people who look like they could lift a car with one hand and not break a sweat.

And there’s him and Steve, who look like the rejects from a High School Musical.

He loves Steve, he really does, but he might strangle him with his towel that’s all.

Somehow, he gets Steve to put down the barbell (the fact that he nearly dropped it on himself and almost crushed his chest probably had something to do with it). Unfortunately, that means he’s now moved on to the treadmill.

“Does the fact that you have asthma mean nothing to you?” he hisses.

“Fight me.”

“I want to, trust me, but the fact is right now, you look like if I so much as blow on you, you’ll fall over.”

Whatever Steve’s about to say (which by the look on his face is not very pleasant) is cut-off by someone calling out his name.

Tony turns around, surprised but he grins when he sees Sam Wilson heading towards him. Unlike him, Sam looks like he belongs here, comfortable and collected. With him, there’s another man, tall and built like a truck with a sullen look on his face. Mentally, Tony registers that he’s potentially Steve’s type. Sam says something to him, but at that exact moment, he hears a startled yelp from behind him.

Steve’s actually starting to regret the treadmill. His lungs are starting to burn and his legs feel like there’s something trying to physically rip the muscles apart. But he can’t tell Tony that because that would imply quitting and if there’s one thing he’s not, it’s a quitter. What he will do, is soldier on throughout the day and then go home and become one with his bed for the remainder of the weekend. He’d told Clint that he would go to the gym for one day, not that he’d become a healthy soul. No one expected miracles.

He’s startled when someone calls out Tony’s name but he turns around and sees Sam Wilson from the VA. Then he turns a little more and sees who Sam’s with.

His brain promptly short-circuits and he trips over his own feet.

Man, he is going to feel that in the morning.                     

Waving off Tony’s concern (because he finally bumps into a hot guy and this is what he does, Sweet Lord, let the earth swallow him whole), he tries to sit up, wincing when he sees Sam and who he’s decided to mentally call ‘Sexy Lumberjack’ standing over him.

The other man is tall and burly, with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail and scruff that Steve sort of wants to feel between his thighs. He’s lost that sullen look he had a few minutes before which is as nice as it is disappointing, because the pout he was sporting really accentuated his lips.

“I’m fine,” Steve says to Sam who’s crouched down beside him as well. “Really guys, I’m absolutely fine.”

“That didn’t look like you were fine,” Sam says sceptically, raising an eyebrow. But being the nice friend that he is, Tony drops it and Steve could kiss him at that moment.

“We’re actually heading out to grab a quick bite to eat at the snack bar if you want to join us,” says Sam.

And Steve can actually see the slight grimace on Tony’s face, because they’d visited the snack bar the moment they’d walked in (because what else does one do when they visit the gym) and he didn’t even know you could get protein shakes in so many different flavours. And while Steve’s all for eating healthy, he’d rather just have a slice of pizza. But he’s not going to turn down a chance to have lunch with cute lumberjack man so he chirps in before Tony can say anything.

“Sure that sounds great! We were just talking about heading over there ourselves.”

Tony gives him a look, and he makes his eyes wide and sharply glances over at Sam’s friend. His eyes narrowing, Tony sighs and mumbles, “Yay, salads and protein shakes. That’s all I’ve ever wanted in my life.”

“This is Bucky, by the way.” Sam says, gesturing at his friend, “Since he doesn’t ever seem on planning to introduce himself. He seems quiet now, but once you get to know him better you’ll realise he’s a little shit at heart.”

“Thanks Sam,” Lumberjack-er-Bucky intones, and if the Lord struck Steve down now, he’d be happy because that voice.

“You’re drooling,” Tony hisses.

At the cafeteria, Steve picks at his salad thing that’s got a bunch of different vegetables and some grilled chicken in it and tries not to look too disgusted. Sam and Bucky are both eating their own plates of some concoction that Steve can’t identify at all (and doesn’t want to) and Tony had bought himself baked vegetable chips (much to the disdain of the lady working at the counter).

He takes a sip of his protein shake to wash down the taste of all the kale he’s been eating and almost gags.

Apparently, he’s not being as discreet as he hoped because Bucky chuckles at his reaction and whispers in a conspiratorial tone, “Yeah, the food’s not that great here is it? Sam and I just come down here if we’ve had a really rough work out to get our energy levels back up. But personally, I’d rather just have fried chicken, you know?” And then he gives Steve this bashful smile which should look out of his place on him but doesn’t and Steve wants to throw his protein shake at him because it is not fair that anyone looks that perfect.

They make small talk for a few minutes before Sam asks, “So Tony, I thought you said you didn’t plan on ever coming to a gym? Or as I recall, your words were, I despise these dens full of deaths traps and portals to destroy one’s already fragile self-esteem. I will never set so much as a little toe in one.”

“Oh, um. Well you know, times have changed and all that.”

“Tony and I thought it would be a good idea to start visiting the gym once in a while. To, um, get back in shape.”

“Yeah, Steve here loves his exercise and I figured, well I should tag along and benefit from him.”

Bucky’s looking at him interestedly now, “I didn’t figure you for a regular gym-goer.”

 

And oh no, Tony thinks, not again, because whether Steve finds him cute or not, those are fighting words. Maybe if he drinks this strange green concoction all his problems will go away. To his side, Steve stiffens and Bucky must have realised that he’s offended the smaller man because he hastens to add, “No, that came out wrong. I mean that, given your build I’d have pegged you for a yoga person or gymnastics or something. Because you’re really slender and you know what? I’m just going to stop talking.”

“So let me get this straight,” Natasha says with a straight face, “You meet an absolutely drool-worthy man who’s also apparently a complete dork and you face plant in front of him on a treadmill? I’m not sure whether to pat you on the head or hand you a trophy.”

“Let me continue to bask in my suffering.” Steve groans and he’s not even exaggerating because exercising is hard work and no one told him it would hurt the next day. Every time he sits down and stands up, he winces because his thighs and calves sting like no one else’s business. And when he first did it, Clint had smirked at him and asked if he’d gotten lucky.

“I mean,” Clint contributes, “It’s all about the journey isn’t it? You don’t develop abs in a few days. Give it some time and you’ll have the satisfaction of abs for days.”

“I’m pretty sure what I’ve going to have is bruises for days,” Steve says sadly and at that Tony looks up sharply. “Wait a minute,” he asks, “Do you actually have bruises?”

“No?”

Which is pretty much how they decide, under no condition is Steve to be allowed into the gym alone. And since Tony’s got a business meeting the next day, and Clint’s got a date with Phil, he ends up heading in with Natasha. Which, ordinarily would be fine, because she’s one of his closest friends. Except, she actually looks like she belongs in the gym. Unlike Tony, who had been as out of shape and out of place as he was, Natasha looks like a model who could have walked straight out from a fitness magazine page. 

She even owns co-ordinated work-out clothes.

Steve feels more like a potato than usual.

The pros of having a friend accompany you who actually knows what they’re doing is that they’re able to guide you. Meaning that Natasha could make sure Steve was starting out at a decent pace and not over-exerting himself from the start, as a result of which, he was kind of enjoying himself for a change.

The con of having Natasha here, besides the fact that he looked like deer learning how to walk next to her, was that she attracted a lot of attention. And Steve was starting to get angry, because she was clearly not interested in the guy who was hitting on her (she’d politely turned his offer for coffee down twice now) and he still kept pestering her. But when he put his hand on her arm, he saw red.

Stumbling off his treadmill, he marched up to him on jelly-like legs and stood in front of them with his hands on his hips.

“She’s clearly not interested so back off.”

Natasha looks amused and rolls her eyes, a clear sign for ‘I could handle it’, while the creep next to her looks like he wants to hurt something, probably Steve.

“Listen half-pint.”

And Natasha finds herself thinking that maybe she shouldn’t have laughed at Tony when he had bemoaned Steve’s fiery spirit. Except then things get out of hand because the guy pushes Steve and sends him reeling backwards into the handles of another treadmill, where he lands with a pained shout and Natasha is ready to decapitate this jerk.

“Buddy, you need to learn when to back off.”

Sam’s hand is on the guy’s shoulder and when Natasha turns around, Bucky’s crouched on the ground next to Steve, looking very concerned. Her eyebrows raise, because that was certainly interesting.

When she finds herself at the snack bar again, she has to admit that Steve was right and the snacks were pretty terrible. But she also has to admit that Bucky’s friend has a very nice smile.

“You’re sure the two of you are alright?” Sam asks.

“I’m alright, Steve stepped in pretty early and I can handle myself. I’m more worried about Captain Virtue over there.”

“I don’t know,” says Bucky, directing a smile at Steve, “I think he was pretty brave.” And if there was any doubt in her mind that Steve might have a chance with this guy, it’s erased when she watches Bucky follow Steve as they take their trays away, not coddling him, but making sure he’s unobtrusively there if Steve needs any help.

She wonders if she can follow up on this theory during her coffee date with Sam.

Steve goes in a third day, but this time he’s by himself. He’s a fully-grown man, he can do this. So, when he walks into the changing rooms and sees Bucky shirtless, changing into workout gear, he totally does not walk into a locker. (Just like he didn’t tell the others he was going to a pumpkin sale).

“Are you ok?” And oh no, now Bucky’s standing over him shirtless and Steve either wants to run his fingers over his abs. Or maybe lick them and this is a very dangerous line of thought, plus Bucky’s starting to look concerned now and he should really respond because he doesn’t want Bucky to think he has a concussion.

“I’m fine,” Steve says, sitting up, “Just sort of accident prone.”

“I’ve noticed that”, the other man laughs, “But I’ll stand by what I said yesterday, that was a good thing you did.”

See the thing is, when Sam had asked him to join in on his gym sessions, Bucky wasn’t thrilled. He didn’t like gyms, didn’t like the crowds and he was perfectly capable of staying in shape by running and working out at home. But he couldn’t say no to Sam and that’s how he ended up at the gym. One week later, it’s safe to say he hates it. It’s kind of pretentious and the food is terrible. Sure, there are a few people who he’s genuinely come to enjoy meeting and he knows Sam comes to check up on some of the guys from the VA, but if he has to have one more tasteless sandwich he’ll cry.

He’s midway through convincing Sam to get a burger with him when Sam’s eyes light up in recognition and he heads over to a man who looks like he’d be happy any place but here.

Bucky understands that sentiment.

That’s when he sees who the man (Tony, his brain helpfully supplies) is talking to and his stomach does a little flip.

On the treadmill is one of the most beautiful people that Bucky’s ever seen. He’s tiny, with gangly arms and legs and a mop of blond hair. With a scowl on his face, he seems to be arguing and Bucky’s kind of alarmed at how red his face is. But then he turns around too, and Bucky meets his blue eyes and internally swoons.

Then he internally swears because the cute blond takes a nose-dive on the treadmill and he’s more than a bit worried.

When he sees Steve again, he’s more than a little excited, and he grins because who knew the man was such a little spitfire.

He’s in the changing rooms when he bumps into the man for the third time and he freezes when Steve walks in. He’s not a big fan of people seeing the scars on his arm, it tends to freak them out. But the next thing he knows, Steve’s walked into a locker and Bucky’s starting to consider suggesting a suit made of pillows for him. Apparently, Steve hadn’t even noticed his arm because when he gets up, only then do his eyes land on Bucky’s shoulder and his eyes widen for a bit.

But to Bucky’s surprise he doesn’t say anything and starts to head into a stall to change.

“You can ask you know?” he says after a few minutes of trying not to listen to the rustling sounds of Steve changing into his gym clothes.

“It’s none of my business,” Steve says firmly from inside, and Bucky blinks, because that’s a change. He waits a beat before saying, “Served in the army for a while. Unit got hit by an IED and almost lost the arm. Got an honourable discharge but I needed some rehab so that’s where I met Sam.”

Steve walks out of the stall at that point and walks up to Bucky, shaking his hand, “Thank you for your service.”

Breaking the tension in the room, Bucky changes the subject and says, “So, do you want to work out with me today?”

Two hours later and Steve wants to curl up into a tiny ball and cry. Because Bucky Barnes is a beast and he doesn’t mean that in the way he wants to. They’ve done a lot of exercise and honestly Steve is not cut out for this. He gets winded carrying groceries up the stairs. Sitting down, he mops off some sweat from his brow and tries to look as un-gross as possible when Bucky plops down next to him, looking for all the world like a GQ model.

“You’re not doing too badly you know.” And when Steve gives a scathing look he continues, “No I mean it, for someone who’s clearly not used to this kind of strenuous activity, you’re really doing well. Though I’m going to take a wild guess here and say it has something to do with you being very stubborn.” But from the twinkle in his eye, Steve can tell he’s just joking and he smiles back. A flush spreads across Bucky’s cheeks and he ducks his head and oh, now Steve’s definitely intrigued.

Before they leave, Bucky decides to teach Steve some of the basics of kickboxing. His logic is that if Steve is going to continue to start all the fights, he might as well be able to defend himself properly.

Which, in theory would be great except that no one had told Bucky that Steve had the worst hand-eye co-ordination known to man.

“You did what now?” Tony asks, trying to understand what Steve was saying. It’s kind of hard because he’s half buried under a comforter on the couch in his living room. When Steve had dropped his gym-going habits, the others had initially been ecstatic. Then they’d gotten worried because he’s never given up a challenge that easily and he’d also started avoiding any extra socializing with their group. Tony’s pegged the latter to the fact that Natasha and Sam are now dating, and Sam tended to bring Bucky along to some of their gatherings. Except, he didn’t think that would be a problem, but it suddenly seems to be and that concerns him. Since Steve’s arguably most likely to open up to Tony, he’s sent over to his house.

When he walks in, there are numerous finished sketches and empty pizza boxes.

Steve Rogers is definitely sulking.

“Steve, I need to actually be able to hear you to understand what you’re saying.”

And when Tony hears what’s happened, he’s not sure whether to laugh or hug Steve. Because how many people can say that they accidentally kicked their crush so hard in the groin region that the other person had buckled to the floor and needed to be escorted to first aid. Considering the fact that Steve looks distraught and his lower lip is trembling, Tony’s going to go with a hug.

“I mean, you didn’t just abandon him or something, you made sure he was ok. And it was an accident, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Which is when Steve bursts into tears and wails about how he’s possibly accidentally sterilized Bucky.

Tony can feel the migraine building up.

By next week, Steve’s still not left his nest. He’s finished all his backed-up commissions, has started working on new ones, has finished filing his tax returns, cleaned his house and even bought new curtains. He’s never been so productive in his life. Tony’s also never seen him looking so tired.

He confronts Clint about it during their next group coffee, Steve missing as usual.

“This is your fault,” he hisses.

“How is it my fault?” But Clint looks guilty and Tony feels guilty because he knows it isn’t really the other man’s fault. They’re just all worried about Steve.

“If you hadn’t riled him up in the first place, we’d never be in this situation. He was cooking when I went over last week, cooking actual food. That wasn’t in a microwave.” And he’s aware that his voice is getting shrill and that he’s getting weird looks but he honestly doesn’t care.

“Why is it such a bad thing if someone’s started cooking?” And there’s Sam, Tony thinks, with one hand holding Natasha’s and behind them is Bucky. Natasha and Sam make an annoyingly cute couple and if Tony didn’t really like Sam he’d be disgusted. They make space for them and Natasha says, “I’m going to assume you’re talking about Steve? He almost never cooks, hates it. If he’s cooking it usually means he’s really stressed out.”

“Is he not coming today as well?” Sam asks, his brow furrowed, “Poor guy, he must have a lot of work.”

And that’s when Tony notices the look on Clint’s face. It’s a look that usually means Clint’s going to do something either really smart or really, really bad.

“It’s not that. Well, Steve’s definitely got a ton of work on his plate. But he’s sort of gone into hiding because he thinks Bucky hates him.”

“Clint!” Tony hisses, looking scandalised.

“What? You said to fix it!”

“You and I seem to have a completely different definition of the word fix.”

“But I’m not angry at him.” Bucky’s quiet voice pierces through their argument.

“You’re not?” Tony asks.

“No, why would I be? Is it because of what happened at the gym the other day? That was an accident, I don’t blame him at all. If anything, I’m impressed that he was able to land that much damage.”

“Well, that’s Steve for you,” Clint says firmly, “He’s beating himself up over it. And you’re clearly coming here mainly because you want to meet him and none of us are getting any younger so here’s his address and here’s to hoping that you both fix things.”

Which is how Bucky Barnes ends up standing in front of Steve’s front door.

He rings the bell and rocks back and forth on his heels waiting for someone to answer.

When the front door swings open, his jaw drops a little because there’s Steve and he looks a lot different out of his workout clothes (and when he’s clearly not happy to be in a certain place). Wearing an oversized sweater and skinny jeans, he’s got thick-framed glasses propped up on his nose and a charcoal smudge on one cheek. He looks irritable when he opens the door but that quickly changes to surprise and then terror.

“Um, Bucky? Uh hi. How did you know where I lived?”

Maybe Bucky didn’t think about the fact that if he showed up unannounced at Steve’s doorstep, it would be a little bit weird.

“Clint gave it to me.”

That doesn’t make things any better and Bucky hastens to explain, “I just, didn’t want you to think that there were any hard feelings over what happened the other day.”

“Oh geez, Bucky did they put you up to this? It’s ok, I understand if you’re mad, I don’t blame you in the slightest.”

“No that’s just it, I didn’t realise you’d think I was mad. Steve, it was a complete accident and to be fair, I wasn’t paying half as much attention as I should have been. I was kind of distracted myself.” And now he’s blushing and wow, he was really doing well with this.

“Distracted by what,” Steve asks and Bucky counts it as a win that he’s not looking as freaked out anymore.

“I mean this in the non-creepiest way possible, but you?”

“We’re both kind of slow on the uptake aren’t we?” Steve says after an agonizing moment of silence.

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you think I fell over on that treadmill the other day?”

“So, does that mean I can ask you out on a date?” Bucky asks excitedly. Steve walks forward and stands on his toes, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s cheek, “As long as it’s not in a gym, I’m in.”

And well, Bucky can deal with that. He knows a place that makes great pizzas after all.

 

***Extra Scene***

“So you and Barnes made up huh?” Tony asks, biting into his club sandwich.

“Uh huh. And then we made out. Enthusiastically.”

Tony chokes on his food, “I did not need to know that.”

“He’s so flexible Tony, it’s great.”

“The next time you’re struggling with barbells, I’m abandoning you. Bench-press by yourself.”

“Bucky can bench-press me any day he wants.”

“Did a barbell hit your head or is this what endorphins do to you?”

**Author's Note:**

> *Story Time* 
> 
> Steve at the gym? Based off me. So, true (awkward) story, but I had a crush on this guy built like Bucky Barnes (in this story) and I actually almost signed up for the gym with a friend because it turned out he went there frequently (like every day. For fun). Plus the gym was free for university students so.
> 
> The first day, I got stuck to the turnstile at the entrance because of my backpack and the guy who worked at reception had to help me.  
> Then I actually went in and there were all these people with gym bags and fancy shoes and actual muscles and I'm just like 'Dude I just finished a donut'.
> 
> Long story short, I never went back and like Bucky, I sort of work out at home and do a lot of running around. I mean props to people who can go to a gym, like the guy I liked, because man I admire your dedication. It's just not for me.  
> The food thing, I know eating healthy actually does not taste bad (I actually eat pretty decent most of the time) but, ugh this is mortifying, at the uni cafeteria, I bumped into cute guy. And I'm about to get a pizza and chips but he's talking to my super gorgeous flatmate and they're both getting these healthy salad things. So, I too picked one up.
> 
> I learnt the hard way that I do not like the taste of fresh parsley. (Sadly, my cute guy and I didn't end up like Bucky and Steve, but hey, what's life if we don't live vicariously through our fanfiction).


End file.
